Damon Albarn - Dr Dee (Parlophone) d
‘Applecarts’, possibly one of my favourite songs ever already, is the most lovely, birdsongy, gentle and folky piece you will ever hear.
a
amon Albarn has temporarily turned his back on all things Gorillaz and gone back 400 years to the time of John Dee, a 17th-century polymath, astrologer and advisor to Queen Elizabeth, creating a whole opera based on his life, which is being shown at the English National Opera in
June. What we have here is a kind of soundtrack to this opera. It’s certainly not your usual Blur fare, although at certain points Damon’s vocals ring so sweetly and with such purity and heartbreak as can be heard in some of his much earlier ballads; ‘Applecarts’, possibly one of my favourite songs ever already, is the most lovely, birdsongy, gentle and folky piece you will ever hear. At times this 18 track album is challenging, with discordant organ sounds laid over choral music, or a couple of stunning falsetto solo pieces. There are so many different and interesting sounding instruments used - viola de gamba, shawm, dulcian, crumhorn, recorder, lute – that it’s hard to picture what’s happening on stage from the music, and the lyrics don’t give you the answers. They are, like John Dee, mystical, folky and very British; it’s not meant to be easy. It’s an album for people who want to hear an artist who has grown from a Britpop singer to a composer and Proper Musician. We should be so proud of him. And bagsy a ticket to the opera. Lizz Smith
The Temper Trap – The Temper Trap (Infectious Music)
n eponymous album is a statement from the band; this is who we are, this body of music is how we define ourselves. Interesting then that for The Temper Trap, this is the statement attributed to
their second album, not their first. It’s hard not to look at this one without the context of their
stunning debut, ‘Conditions’, an LP full of depth of emotion, an innate understanding of crescendos and Dougy’s yelping tones. The second seems to build on the band’s energetic live performance, with a stronger presence from the instruments, and Dougy’s vocals having found a strength that borders on the theatrical. Lead single, ‘Need Your Love’ is also the first track and it presents the album with strong intention; it’s electronic, punchy and choral, like many others including the riots-inspired ‘London’s Burning’ and ‘Where Do We Go From Here’. What about the quieter moments that The Temper Trap can engineer emotion out of so well? Enter delicately finger-picked ‘The Sea is Calling’ and free download ‘Rabbit Hole’. If this album is ‘them’, they are confident, flexible, dramatic and sensitive all at the same time. Qualities that we hope they imbue in many more albums to come.Emu Robot
Sigur Ros – Valtari (EMI)
The instrumentation is gorgeous, and there’s even an unexpected hint of Godspeed you! Black Emperor in track 3 to tantalize your ears.
t’s been four years since Sigur Rós delivered the catchily titled ‘Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust’, and in that time, frontman Jónsi has released the collaborative ‘Riceboy Sleeps’ with boyfriend Alex Somers and his debut solo effort ‘Go’. And whilst both of these records are stunning in their own right, they’re just not Sigur Rós. So was it worth the wait? In short, yes. This record delivers something that the band haven’t given us so much of since ‘( )’, namely a significant shift in direction, away from the path littered with movie types waiting for that next track they could take and insert into their crappy, over sentimental attempt at an ‘indie’ film as a form of emotional shorthand so they don’t have to create it with their badly written narrative. This is not Sigur Rós’ fault, by the way, since their music genuinely does create these feelings. The first half of ‘Valtari’ could be called the vocal half, with considerably more singing than in the last 24 or so minutes of the album, and the order of the songs is perfect, creating probably the most complete record in terms of the way it flows that the band have so far produced. The instrumentation is gorgeous, and there’s even an unexpected hint of Godspeed you! Black Emperor in track 3 to tantalize your ears. Valtari is an absolutely dazzling record and I have no choice but to give it full
marks.BBV
I 44 /May 2012/
outlineonline.co.uk
If this album is ‘them’, they
are confident, flexible, dramatic and sensitive all at the same time.
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